Evening Garden Club presents -

 

Everyone who digs in their bit of earth has experienced garden goofs. Award-winning garden writer Mary-Kate Mackey discusses classic disasters in her 27 years of gardening in the same spot, such as wrong plant, wrong place; why drip doesn’t work in all situations; and why friends don’t let friends put down weed cloth. She’ll also offer tips on how to avoid or correct these errors, including how to research trees and shrubs that won’t outgrow their welcome.

A lively and knowledgeable speaker, Mary-Kate Mackey is the co-author of Sunset’s Secret Gardens—153 Ideas from the Pros. She is a contributor to Sunset’s Gardening in the Northwest and the Sunset Western Garden Book. Five-time winner of a GardenCom (formerly GWA) Award for garden writing, her articles have appeared in national and regional publications, such as Fine Gardening, Horticulture and Sunset. 

Online, she writes about growing Encore Azaleas from a West Coast point of view.  https://www.encoreazalea.com/gardening/expert-advice/mary-kate-mackey

“Rooting for You” is her monthly column for the U.S. Hartley-Botanic Greenhouse website. https://hartley-botanic.com/magazine/author/marykatemackey/

http://corvalliseveninggardenclub.org

http://corvalliseveninggardenclub.org

March Means Spring is Coming!

Whether you are thinking of planting peas and potatoes around St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) or are ready to celebrate the Sun coming back to the Northern Hemisphere on the Spring Equinox(March 20th) in the garden, we are approaching the time to plant hardy vegetables in your garden. Hardy plants can handle temperatures that dip down to 25° and include spinach, peas, corn salad or maché, fava beans, and some lettuces.

But before you put in those seeds or transplants, be sure to prepare your soil and there’s the rub this year. Your soil has received a lot of moisture in February and so far in March, so be careful to wait to turn in your cover crops and/or other organic matter. The word this year seems to be patience.

First, make sure your soil is dry enough to work. Second, after you have turned in the organic matter, let the soil rest for a couple of weeks before planting. You will be better off not rushing the season.

Info in the Guide
Learning Opportunities 
Equipment & Supplies 
Bulk Soil and Compost 
Seeds and Plant Starts 
Specialty Plants 
Mushrooms 
Neighborhood Gardening Groups 
Community Gardens w/Individual Plots 
Community Gardens worked cooperatively 
Backyard Poultry Beekeeping



Pick up your copy today at 
Garden Spaces Sustainable Landscapes
Town & Country Realty
Garland Nursery and
Susan’s Garden and Coffee Shop.

Food Action Team – Edible Garden Group

What to do in the Garden in March

Planning and Planting

-       Plan your vegetable garden. 

-       Once soil is dry enough, plant cool season annual crops:  carrots, beets, broccoli, kale, leeks, parsley, peas, onion, lettuce, & radishes.

-       Plant insectary plants such as Alyssum, Phacelia, coriander, candytuft, yarrow, and dill.  Click this link for more ideas. https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/pnw550

-       Plant perennial crops- strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, rhubarb, and chives.

 

Lettuce and kale seedlings, 2 weeks old

Propagation

-       Divide hostas, daylilies, mums, anemones, asters, yarrow, garden phlox, and other summer flowering herbaceous perennials. Most could also be done in fall.

Pest Monitoring

-  Watch trees for  leaf rollers.  Click this link for advice.  https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/hort/landscape/common/landscape-leafroller-leaftier

Leaf roller, photo courtesy of WSU

-  Watch for slug damage and bait with iron phosphate or use a trap baited with bread dough or cucumber.

-  Prune shrubs to allow air circulation, preventing fungal disease.

Maintenance

-  Spread compost

-  Prune spring flowering shrubs after bloom to allow air circulation, preventing fungal disease.

-  Add grass clippings (no herbicides!), yard waste, and kitchen scraps to compost bin